TAM 2012 Las Vegas

PlasticJesus said:
3. The whole thing seems to have an air of disorganization about it; from setting the event date to coincide with Comicon - to not having a keynote speaker nailed down 8 weeks before the conference date.​
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Plus, Comicon has Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier this year. :eek:
 
PlasticJesus said:
I've been waiting to register until we at least get a keynote speaker.

This would be my third TAM, but now I'm seriously reconsidering whether to go this year for a number of reasons:

1. I've got myself, my brother, and two of my kids, so waiting to see who the keynote speaker will be has already cost us $200 because we haven't registered in time to get the earlybird pricing.​
2. Two of the people going with me are first timers, and don't know anyone on the current speaker list (besides Lawrence Krauss). I think it's very important that newcomers first TAM experience lives up to expectations.​
3. The whole thing seems to have an air of disorganization about it; from setting the event date to coincide with Comicon - to not having a keynote speaker nailed down 8 weeks before the conference date.​
4. Not being able to book some "big names" indicates that either my attendance is being taken for granted by the organizers, or that the speakers are not taking this conference seriously this year.​

This is not meant to be overly critical, and I know my group of four is probably insignifcant overall; But if I were the organizer, I would certainly think there is cause for concern.
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I think the criticism about coinciding with Comic-Con is a bit unfair; IIRC, Comic-Con has been held during the last two weeks of July for the past several years. The JREF probably would not have been thinking that Comic-Con would be moved up (I don't know how far in advance they announce Comic-Con dates) and probably would not have really been able to seriously factor that in.

I agree with your other points, though - particularly the whole "taken for granted" thing.
 
PlasticJesus said:
I've been waiting to register until we at least get a keynote speaker.

3. The whole thing seems to have an air of disorganization about it; from setting the event date to coincide with Comicon - to not having a keynote speaker nailed down 8 weeks before the conference date.

​
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​
I think that criticism of the lack of a "keynote speaker" is a little ridiculous. I have been to every TAM since TAM 5, which I do not think that had a "keynote speaker" but was an excellent conference.

TAM 6 had Neil deGrasse Tyson as a "keynote" and he was great.

TAM 7 had Bill Prady, executive producer of the Big Bang Theory sitcom. IMHO, his talk was a total waste of time.

TAM 8 had Richard Dawkins, but this was not really a "keynote" so much as a sit-down interview with DJ. Most people I spoke to about this thought it was somewhat of a letdown, as did I.

TAM 9 had Tyson again, giving an almost verbatim repeat of his "keynote" speech from TAM 6. So for a repeat attendee, this "keynote" was anything other than value for money.

So, we don't have a "keynote" announced for TAM 2012 yet. I say "bravo"! We don't need no stinkin' keynote! In fact, I think we would be much better off if James Randi did the "keynote" each year.

4. Not being able to book some "big names" indicates that either my attendance is being taken for granted by the organizers, or that the speakers are not taking this conference seriously this year.
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Fair enough, if "big names" is what you want. I would prefer to hear interesting people talk about things I have never heard before. In fact, I think that, if anything, there is too much emphasis placed on getting "big names" in the skeptics movement to attend. I would much rather see a large number of outsiders who are not affiliated with the "movement." For instance, Peter Segal appeared at TAM 5, and I thought he was one of the most interesting TAM speakers I have ever heard.

To me, the thing that I don't like is the explosion of panel discussions we have seen over the past two TAMS.

TAM 5 had one panel discussion.

TAM 6 had two panel discussions.

TAM 7 had three panel discussions.

TAM 8 had four panel discussions.

TAM 9 had four, I think, but I can't find the schedule online to confirm.

I really could do without the gab fests these panels have become.
 
TsarBomba said:
I think that criticism of the lack of a "keynote speaker" is a little ridiculous. I have been to every TAM since TAM 5, which I do not think that had a "keynote speaker" but was an excellent conference.

TAM 6 had Neil deGrasse Tyson as a "keynote" and he was great.

TAM 7 had Bill Prady, executive producer of the Big Bang Theory sitcom. IMHO, his talk was a total waste of time.

TAM 8 had Richard Dawkins, but this was not really a "keynote" so much as a sit-down interview with DJ. Most people I spoke to about this thought it was somewhat of a letdown, as did I.

TAM 9 had Tyson again, giving an almost verbatim repeat of his "keynote" speech from TAM 6. So for a repeat attendee, this "keynote" was anything other than value for money.

So, we don't have a "keynote" announced for TAM 2012 yet. I say "bravo"! We don't need no stinkin' keynote! In fact, I think we would be much better off if James Randi did the "keynote" each year.



Fair enough, if "big names" is what you want. I would prefer to hear interesting people talk about things I have never heard before. In fact, I think that, if anything, there is too much emphasis placed on getting "big names" in the skeptics movement to attend. I would much rather see a large number of outsiders who are not affiliated with the "movement." For instance, Peter Segal appeared at TAM 5, and I thought he was one of the most interesting TAM speakers I have ever heard.

To me, the thing that I don't like is the explosion of panel discussions we have seen over the past two TAMS.

TAM 5 had one panel discussion.

TAM 6 had two panel discussions.

TAM 7 had three panel discussions.

TAM 8 had four panel discussions.

TAM 9 had four, I think, but I can't find the schedule online to confirm.

I really could do without the gab fests these panels have become.
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Good post, and I generally agree (keeping in mind my limited TAM attendance, though I have watched all the DVDs).

Re. TAM 9--I just checked my program from last year and I count seven panel discussions, which is way too many.

Of course, one of those was on "Our Future in Space," with Tyson, Nye, Gay and Krauss, moderated by Plait--probably the best panel I have ever seen.

ETA: Here are the panel discussions from TAM 9:

Friday
- Skepticism on TV
- Our Future in Space

Saturday
- Ethics of Paranormal Investigation
- Getting Things Done (For Science and Skepticism)
- Placebo Medicine: The Ethics and Mechanisms of the Mysterious Placebo

Sunday
- Communicating Skepticism
- Diversity in Skepticism
 
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AdMan said:
Good post, and I generally agree (keeping in mind my limited TAM attendance, though I have watched all the DVDs).

Re. TAM 9--I just checked my program from last year and I count seven panel discussions, which is way too many.

Of course, one of those was on "Our Future in Space," with Tyson, Nye, Gay and Krauss, moderated by Plait--probably the best panel I have ever seen.

ETA: Here are the panel discussions from TAM 9:

Friday
- Skepticism on TV
- Our Future in Space

Saturday
- Ethics of Paranormal Investigation
- Getting Things Done (For Science and Skepticism)
- Placebo Medicine: The Ethics and Mechanisms of the Mysterious Placebo

Sunday
- Communicating Skepticism
- Diversity in Skepticism
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So let's call it five for TAM 9, since there were two on Sunday for TAM 9 and prior to TAM 9 Sunday was pretty much limited to the paper presentations. Still, when you look at the increase year after year it is disturbing. My rough calculation is that if the current trend continues, TAM will be nothing but panels by the time we get to TAM 14.
 
Since I'm not flush financially, and the only people I really want to see are Forumites, I'm not planning on attending the official TAMX but instead driving in and having a drink of two at whatever fancy bar it is now that you TAMattendees are always going on about.

I'm still sad about missing Neil Degrasse Tyson and Bill Nye.
 
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If I were a first time attendee, I would have nothing to go on but the speaker list and whatever I gleaned from this forum. I can see that being a significant part of the decision for the first TAMmer.
 
There's nothing saying that you HAVE to get a pass to the event if you really just want to socialize. Hanging out in the Del Mar is one of the more enjoyable parts of the week.
 
MoeFaux said:
Since I'm not flush financially, and the only people I really want to see are Forumites, I'm not planning on attending the official TAMX but instead driving in and having a drink of two at whatever fancy bar it is now that you TAMattendees are always going on about.

I'm still sad about missing Neil Degrasse Tyson and Bill Nye.
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Awesome.
 
xinit said:
There's nothing saying that you HAVE to get a pass to the event if you really just want to socialize. Hanging out in the Del Mar is one of the more enjoyable parts of the week.
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While I agree with the opinion that socializing is the best part of TAM, publicly promoting the idea of having people come to Vegas just to hang out, without actually registering for the conference (on the JREF forum, no less), is something I really disagree with. If you, personally, make the choice to do this then conference attendance isn't going to suffer significantly. But if a lot of people start doing it -- including former attendees and newbies who are hesitant to spend the money -- it won't take long for that to have a negative impact, because it's not a huge event to begin with. Fewer attendees = less money made for the JREF = more difficulty booking big guests = even fewer attendees, and so on and so forth.

That this is looking like an attractive option for people already is just another reason why I believe it's important that they book a couple big names every year, so that TAM doesn't start getting a reputation as an event that's fun to socialize at, but which has nothing new to offer people who've already attended a few times.
 
saganite said:
While I agree with the opinion that socializing is the best part of TAM, publicly promoting the idea of having people come to Vegas just to hang out, without actually registering for the conference (on the JREF forum, no less), is something I really disagree with. If you, personally, make the choice to do this then conference attendance isn't going to suffer significantly. But if a lot of people start doing it -- including former attendees and newbies who are hesitant to spend the money -- it won't take long for that to have a negative impact, because it's not a huge event to begin with. Fewer attendees = less money made for the JREF = more difficulty booking big guests = even fewer attendees, and so on and so forth.

That this is looking like an attractive option for people already is just another reason why I believe it's important that they book a couple big names every year, so that TAM doesn't start getting a reputation as an event that's fun to socialize at, but which has nothing new to offer people who've already attended a few times.
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This.
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
The number of forum grant requests is down, too. Significantly.

Is the economy just beating people down? Is the speaker list not exciting enough?

~~ Paul
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I know people who normally go to TAM that aren't going this time because ComicCon is going on at the same time :(
 
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MoeFaux said:
Since I'm not flush financially, and the only people I really want to see are Forumites, I'm not planning on attending the official TAMX but instead driving in and having a drink of two at whatever fancy bar it is now that you TAMattendees are always going on about.
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Moesters! How are things? It's not fancy, but it's the official bar anyway. You can hang out in the Del Mar the whole time.

~~ Paul
 
TsarBomba said:
So let's call it five for TAM 9, since there were two on Sunday for TAM 9 and prior to TAM 9 Sunday was pretty much limited to the paper presentations. Still, when you look at the increase year after year it is disturbing. My rough calculation is that if the current trend continues, TAM will be nothing but panels by the time we get to TAM 14.
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Actually, the panels on Sunday really annoyed me. They've been cutting back the Sunday Papers sessions to fit in stuff like this, but the Sunday Papers are some of the best parts of TAM, in my opinion. Instead of cutting them back, they should expand them.


I've convinced two people at work to attend TAM this year even though I can't make it, so you guys have to be nice to them!
 
Horatius said:
Actually, the panels on Sunday really annoyed me. They've been cutting back the Sunday Papers sessions to fit in stuff like this, but the Sunday Papers are some of the best parts of TAM, in my opinion. Instead of cutting them back, they should expand them!
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word
 
Horatius said:
Actually, the panels on Sunday really annoyed me. They've been cutting back the Sunday Papers sessions to fit in stuff like this, but the Sunday Papers are some of the best parts of TAM, in my opinion. Instead of cutting them back, they should expand them.
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Word up.

Sorry to hear you can't make it, Horatius.

~~ Paul
 
Horatius said:
Actually, the panels on Sunday really annoyed me. They've been cutting back the Sunday Papers sessions to fit in stuff like this, but the Sunday Papers are some of the best parts of TAM, in my opinion. Instead of cutting them back, they should expand them.


I've convinced two people at work to attend TAM this year even though I can't make it, so you guys have to be nice to them!
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I'm sorry to hear that you're not attending this year. I always enjoy talking with you.
For what it's worth, I think that some of the Sunday paper presentations are among the best. Consider Robert Lancaster, Steve Cuno and of course yourself. Nice people and interesting talks. I think that Sunday papers should be expanded and panels left for the main show.
 
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